Actors and a full production crew filmed an episode of the TV show “Murder Comes to Town” at Little Joe’s Pizza on Tuesday, Dec. 12.

To allow the crew complete access, the restaurant closed its doors during filming. Travis Presley, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Laura, announced the scheduling change via Facebook two days earlier.

A series of post comments led Presley to later clarify the show and its topic “has nothing to do with Little Joe’s or even Knox [County]. They [the producers] just liked the place and want to use it as a set ... .”

Producer Amber Russ said she specifically was looking for a pizza place to film the episode, when she became aware of Little Joe’s.

“I also like to support local businesses, and help keep money in the community,” she added.

“And [the owners] are some of the nicest people I have worked with. They were super thoughtful about their customers, [not only by announcing the closing on Facebook, but also] planning to give out gift certificates to anyone who might have shown up [the day of filming].

“They have been very good to us.”

“Murder Comes to Town” is one of several shows specifically filmed for the cable channel Investigation Discovery.

“Episodes deal with actual murders, and how they affect small towns,” Russ explained.

The new season will start in the summer of 2018, which is when this episode will be broadcast. Producers asked that specific details about the show filmed at Little

Joe’s not be published prior to the

run date.

That episode actually was the eighth of a 10-show season that was filmed in and around Knoxville, Russ added.

“They [members of the community] are getting more and more used to our presence,” Russ said.

“There is a lot of production value [here],” she added, noting that specific episode also filmed in the Fourth and Gill area. “There is a lot of great scenery here, and also good [location] areas for the show [in general] that ring true to story lines.”

The episode’s five actors were from out

of state, but the production crew was comprised of local free-lancers working for Knoxville-based Lusid Media Productions, including Russ.

Local law enforcement officers also participated in the filming.

“We [frequently] work with [Knoxville Police Department], canine units and CSI through the City of Knoxville,” Russ said. “We have a unique relationship with the police, and [the] law enforcement [officers we work with] are the best.”

Russ said she always is scouting out new sites for future shootings, no pun intended.

“We have 10 different locations to film over four days,” she said last week. “So, I love new location leads.”